Saudi Arabia shuts down Al Jazeera office

JEDDAH (Saudi Arabia), June 5, 2017

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture and Information has ordered the closure of the office of Qatari news channel Al Jazeera in Saudi Arabia and withdrawn its licence, said a report.

The Al Jazeera office shut down comes after the channel promoted the plots of terrorist groups, supported Houthi coup militias in Yemen, and tried to break the Saudi internal ranks by inciting them against the state and harming the sovereignty of the country, reported Emirati news agency Wam.

Earlier in the day, Saudi Arabia along with its Gulf neighbours Bahrain, UAE and Egypt announced that it had severed diplomatic relations with Qatar over security issues.

Saudi news agency SPA said Riyadh has decided to close borders with Qatar to “protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism”.

The “decisive” measure was due to “gross violations committed by authorities in Qatar over the past years”, the Saudi statement said.